11 million Ukrainian refugees returned back home from EU

About 16 million Ukrainian refugees arrived in the European Union in 2022, and 11 million of them later returned home.

1 million people fled to other countries, and about four million refugees remained on EU territory, European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson said at a press conference in Brussels on Wednesday, March 8.

"We have welcomed 16 million Ukrainians into the European Union [in 2022]. Eleven million have gone back to Ukraine again. Four million are still here. Another 1 million went further outside Ukraine, for example, to Canada, the U.S. and the UK," she said.

The European Commissioner for Internal Affairs announced that the return of Ukrainians home is not related to the fact that they are allegedly not welcome on the territory of the EU. First of all, it is the desire of Ukrainians to part of the support of russian aggression and to continue working in Ukraine.

"I talked to those who returned, and therefore there is no reason to say that they are not happy here. They feel that they are welcome here. But many, perhaps having left their children here with their relatives, returned themselves to fight, work or be part of the resistance to Russian aggression," Johansson said.

About 200,000 border crossings by Ukrainians to and from the EU are recorded every week.

For the first time in history, the European Union activated the so-called Temporary Protection Directive, which granted refugees from Ukraine the right to residence and social protection on the territory of EU countries. At this time, it is valid until March 2024.